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Malekir
At a Glance Lupernal Karra'shen of House S'at, known also as Malekir the Ruinous One, was a Tel'Quessir supreme commander and airship captain who began the horrific and eons-long civil war that fractured his race into the separate Drow, Eladrin, and Bor'nal (Wood Elf) factions. Responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Tel'Quessir (as well as other races) in the pursuit of his mad ambition to overthrow the Crown Princes and replace them as the ruler of the Tel'Quessir. His actions were the result of a series of complicated political events, including: * The death of Annerion Kiv'ludash, a decorated airship captain and commander of Malekir who was killed by Githyanki marauders -- and whose vengeance Malekir was denied. * The emergence of the pleasure cults in Cadi-al, which were banned by the Crown Princes. Airship captains who were found engaging with the cults were publicly shamed and their ships scuttled, destroying the lives of many of their crewmen who blamed the Crown princes * The relocation of the Tel'Quessir racial capitol from Cadi-al to Niccasar, a choice made by the Crown Princes to establish better a trade relationship with Dragons of The Astral Sea. Malekir was eventually slain aboard his flagship airship, The Imperial Scar, by Prince Merqis Zelannian and his Crown Prince loyalists, but even in death Malekir's actions deeply damaged the Tel'Quessir race and inaugurated the next age -- The Dawn of Strife. The faction of Tel'Quessir followers who sided with Malekir in the war would adopt the moniker of Drow'Quess -- simplified as Drow, and go on to live in The Underdark, banished from their homeland. History Numerous contradictions and omissions, many due to prejudice as well as the passing of history, plague the uneven documentation of Lupernal Karra'shen. It is known that he was born in Cadi-al to parents of low-magic ability, and as such he spent much of his early life working in the mines to the northeast of the city. As resources and ore were plundered from the caves, Lupernal defended its workers from subterranean beasts like Bulettes -- a feat more astounding based on his lack of magic (which is one of Bulette's only weaknesses). Speaking with a hard palatal edge, his manner of speaking was feral in affectation but retained an aura of casual familiarity and charisma, leading many to follow him with the belief that he was an honest individual. Eventually Lupernal became a foreman of the mines, allowing him to communicate directly with traders who used the purchased ore in the construction of Tel'Quessir airships. Not content to spend his life below ground, Lupernal bartered his way out of the mines and aboard a ship -- the name and history of which has been torn from records due to the stain of Lupernal's later actions. What is known is that he soon became a competent airship lieutenant and, without the aid of magical ability, had an uncanny ability for navigating The Astral Sea through guile and intuition. Early Career Winning many victories, Lupernal was eventually transferred aboard The Sanctioned Judgement, an airship commanded by the renowned admiral Annerion Kiv'ludash. Elevated to the role of commander, Lupernal aided Annerion in his patrols of The Astral Sea, eliminating threats such as wayward Dragons or marauding Githyanki. Following his promotion to commander, Lupernal solicited the advice of his friends and captains about the honour bestowed upon him. Raised up above, he found that they had stifled objections and discontent (born of jealousy) and, as rivalry and pretty competition were common, Lupernal became increasingly isolated. Establishing a bond with Annerion, the pair created a father-son dynamic (Annerion's only family was his distant brother, another airship captain of whom he did not speak to) and Lupernal aided him on his skirmishes across The Astral Sea, conquering hundreds of outlying islands and nebulous ruins. Annerion, without a shrewd political mind, eventually began to push against the Githyanki harder and harder until the Crown Princes of the Tel'Quessir decreed that any excessive show of force would be done without the support of the Tel'Quessir Armada. Balking at the bureaucracy, Annerion continued his raids with Lupernal until their assault lead them too far into Gith airspace -- without aid from the extended fleet. Ambushed by Githyanki marauders, the ensuing counter-attack decimated Annerion's fleet which limped back to Cadi-al, leaving a mortally wounded Annerion unconscious and Lupernal in command. Appearing before the Crown Princes, Lupernal attempted to take responsibility for his superior and pledge himself to lead the returning crusade. The Crown Princes, however, would not hear it. In their mind, Annerion's punishment was justified and no revenge or countermeasures would be taken for his rogue actions. The resulting death of Annerion left his fleet disbanded, his reputation ruined, and Lupernal in command of a contingent of lieutenants and crewmen leaving to pursue other postings. It was also at this time that the Crown princes announced that they would be moving the capitol of Tel'Quessir to Niccasar to establish a central link of trade with the many houses of Drak -- the homes of the Dragons, an action which did not sit well with Lupernal who had defended Astral Sea borders against their kind for generations. Attempting to keep his fleet together, Lupernal followed the deserters in an attempt to win them back from other admirals to no avail. Many, who had fallen into depression with the death of Annerion, had returned to Cadi-al and had begun to engage in a mysterious society known as the Drow'Quess (or Drow). Seeking to win back followers, Lupernal followed them into the dark underbelly of his hometown -- and would be shocked by what he found. Beginnings of Dissent Beneath Cadi-al, a series of noble clans had seduced hundreds of Tel'Quessir with pleasure cults (named Drow'Quess) dedicated to achieving the highest levels of hedonistic sensations. Arts of pleasure, delving ever deeper into hedonism, were governed by this cabal and over time, their ceremonies and practices became ever more wild, eventually devolving into violence and sacrifice of their own kind. It was here that Lupernal found many of the deserting captains and crew. Far more loyal to his fallen crew than the distant Crown Princes, Lupernal attempted to barter with the clan leaders to rescue them from their haze of excess but to no avail. The clans, intrigued by Lupernal's efforts to re-recruit his clansmen made him an ultimatum -- they would return his crew if he gave them a taste of his truest pleasure, accessible through an empathic ceremony. In truth, the clans leaders planned to use their magic to convert Lupernal to their sect of pleasure, expecting to find a man hindered by guilt or repression. Agreeing to the terms, Lupernal opened his mind to the clans, but what they found would be their undoing. Instead of a closeted individual fearful of releasing his passions, the clans leaders found Lupernal's black heart to hold an unapologetic love for combat. Unrepentant, unburdened, and unflinching, Lupernal's dark joy and passion for conquering were far too powerful for the ceremony and, without magical abilities of his own, the reckless ceremony consumed the clan's leaders spell and fed directly into Lupernal himself. Some credit Hextor, the God of War, who had been formless in history until this moment, as having blessed Lupernal as his champion vessel in this moment to give him the power to conquer those (and their goddess) who would overtake him. Seeing the clans leaders for all their strengths and weaknesses (obsessed with pleasure, social status, and the rites of bloodlines), Lupernal saw an opportunity and gave the clan leaders and their followers an ultimatum of his own: Give me the empire of Tel'Quessir, and I will give you the freedom to explore every pleasure you can imagine. The Drow quickly accepted, christening Lupernal as Malekir (the "Unburdened Blade") the Ruinous One. From here, Malekir declared himself the true ruler of the elven promised land, and sat out to begin the most devastating civil war in history. The Tel'Quessir Civl War TBD... Category:Drow Category:Tel'Quessir